Bio Psycho Social Model

BIO- PSYCHO-SOCIAL MODEL
A.H.CHINGONO
HISTORY
Model was theorized by psychiatrist George

L. Engel in 1977.
GEORGE L. ENGEL
• Believed in the importance of biomedical model, but still

criticized it for being too narrow and focusing on patients
as objects.
• Believed that to better understand and help patients,
clinicians must attend simultaneously to the biological,
psychological, and social dimensions of illness.
WHY NEED TO GO BEYOND THE
BIOMEDICAL MODEL?
• The dominant model for disease has always been the biomedical, with
molecular biology as the basic scientific discipline
• Yet a large body of research has increasingly demonstrated
-the role of stressful life events in modulating individual vulnerability to illness
-the role of repeated and chronic environmental challenges in illness
-the tendency to experience and communicate psychological distress as physical
symptoms
-psychological wellbeing playing a protective role in the dynamic balance
between health and disease
BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL MODEL
• According to the biopsychosocial model, interactions

between people's genetic makeup (biology), mental health
and personality (psychology), and sociocultural
environment (social world) contribute to our experience of
health or illness.
GOAL OF BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL?
• The fundamental goal of the model is to prevent reductionism, particularly

biological reductionism, by ensuring that psychological and social factors are not
excluded.
• A comprehensive model of medicine must include the psychosocial dimensions
(personal, emotional, family, the community) in addition to the biological.
• The biopsychosocial model offers a broad approach that is essential to avoid
premature closure of our efforts to understand the patient’s needs,.
• It thus helps avoid the perils of tunnel vision or an overly narrow approach to
treatment.
REDUCTIONISM
In psychology, reductionism usually refers to theories or

explanations that oversimplify behaviour or cognitive
processes often by excluding different perspectives, and, in
doing so, neglect to explain the complexities of the mind.
An example of reductionism would be to attribute behaviours
exclusively to biological processes while ignoring family and
social influences, or vice versa.
WHAT THE BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL OFFERS
• It offers a way of understanding how suffering, disease and illness are affected by
multiple levels of organization from the societal to the molecular
• It allows illness to be viewed as a result of interacting mechanisms at the cellular,
tissue, organismic, interpersonal and environmental levels.
• It advocates that the study of every disease must include the individual, his/her body,
and his/her surrounding environment as essential components of the total system.
• At the practical level, it offers a way of understanding that though the patient’s
subjective experience might be influenced by biological factors, it is not reducible to
the laws of physiology or biochemistry.
WHY BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL?
In adopting the biopsychosocial model we are urged, in our clinical

practice, to pay attention to the trio of
• Observation (outer viewing)
• Introspection (inner viewing)
• Dialogue (interviewing) -Interview process should encourage the
patient to give as much information about not only the physical
symptoms, but how the illness affects the patient and how it started
APPLICATION IN MEDICINE
• A way of looking at the mind, the body and the

environment of a patient as three important systems that
are interlinked so the workings of the one can affect the
workings of others.
• Viral infections can cause stress which can lead to
depression
• Psychosocial factors can also cause a biological effect by
predisposing the patient to risk factors.
– Eg. Person with depression will drink, that can result
in liver damage
SUMMARY
• The biopsychosocial model states that the workings of the

body, mind, and environment all affect each other.
• The theory suggests that each one of these factors is not
sufficient to bring about health or illness, but the
interaction between them is what determines outcomes.
CONT.,
• Health promotion must address all three factors, as the combination

of physical status, perceptions of health, and sociocultural factors
maybe barriers to accessing health care.
• These may influence the likelihood of a patient engaging in health-

promoting behaviours, like taking medication, proper diet or
nutrition.
IN BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCES
WE ADDRESS:
• BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF HEALTH/BEHAVIOUR-genetics and

behaviour African and western perspectives
• PSYCHOLOGICAL BASIS OF HEALTH/BEHAVIOUR- theories

of human development/personality/moral
• SOCIAL BASIS OF HEALTH/BEHAVIOUR- FHS

THE COMPONENTS OF THE
BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL MODEL
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGICAL SOCIAL
• Family history • Emotional development • Family constellation
• Genetics • Personality structure • Peer relationships
• Physical development • Self-esteem • School
• Constitution • Insight • Neighborhood
• Intelligence • Defenses • Ethnic influences
• Temperament • Patterns of behavior • Socioeconomic issues
• Medical comorbidities • Patterns of cognition • Culture(s)
• Responses to stressors • Religion(s)
• Coping strategies
ASPECTS OF THE MODEL
• The biological domain circumscribes neuropsychiatric, genetic and physiological

issues, focusing on, but not limited to, the functional operations of the brain and
what might be directly affecting it.
• The psychological dimension includes an evaluation of the psychological make-up
(strengths and vulnerabilities), and offers the opportunity to include psychological
principles like defense mechanism, conditioning, self actualization, etc in
explaining human motivation and behavior.
• The social dimension situates the person(s) in their communities, exploring
relationship with family and friends, as well as larger collective cultural
organizations like schools, religion, socioeconomic class and ethnicity.
REFERENCES:
• Source: Boundless. “The Biopsychosocial Model of Health

and Illness.” Boundless Psychology. Boundless, 21 Aug.
2015. Retrieved 16 Sept. 2017 from
https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundles
s-psychology-textbook/stress-and-health-psychology-17/
• Introduction-to-health-psychology-85/the-biopsychosocial-
model-of-health-and-illness-326-12861

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What is the biopsychosocial model and who developed it?

What are the three components of the biopsychosocial model?

BIO- PSYCHO-SOCIAL MODEL

Model was theorized by psychiatrist George

• Believed in the importance of biomedical model, but still

• According to the biopsychosocial model, interactions

• The fundamental goal of the model is to prevent reductionism, particularly

In psychology, reductionism usually refers to theories or

In adopting the biopsychosocial model we are urged, in our clinical

• A way of looking at the mind, the body and the

• The biopsychosocial model states that the workings of the

• Health promotion must address all three factors, as the combination

• These may influence the likelihood of a patient engaging in health-

• BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF HEALTH/BEHAVIOUR-genetics and

• PSYCHOLOGICAL BASIS OF HEALTH/BEHAVIOUR- theories

• SOCIAL BASIS OF HEALTH/BEHAVIOUR- FHS

• The biological domain circumscribes neuropsychiatric, genetic and physiological

• Source: Boundless. “The Biopsychosocial Model of Health

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